On the Formation and Persistence of Implicit Attitudes: New Evidence From the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP)

Research increasingly supports the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) as a measure capable of providing a sensitive index of preexisting implicit attitudes and cognitions. The current study constitutes the first attempt to determine if the IRAP is also sensitive to implicit attitudes engineered through either direct relational training or verbal instruction. Following attitude-induction training, participants completed an IRAP in addition to two self report procedures designed to measure newly formed attitudes. Both implicit and explicit attitudes emerged and persisted in response to both relational training and verbal instruction. Furthermore, the IRAP data indicated significant implicit attitudes when participants both affirmed attitude-consistent and negated attitude-inconsistent relations. The findings are consistent with previous attitude-formation research, but the relational properties of the IRAP raise specific conceptual issues pertaining to the nature of implicit attitudes themselves.